First 'Comfort Women' Statue Unveiled in Taiwan

A statue representing women who were forced to work in brothels for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II was unveiled in Tainan on August 14, the first instance of such a statue installed in Taiwan.Former President Ma Ying-jeou, who led Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang party and served from 2008 to 2016, was present at the unveiling ceremony which was organized by the Tainan City Women’s Human Rights Equality Promotion Association, according to reports from Taiwan’s United Daily News and Liberty Times. The association said that they hoped that current President Tsai Ing-wen, the island’s first female ruler, would pay attention to the statue and see that the Taiwanese families of so-called “comfort women” would receive proper compensation and an apology from the Japanese government.This footage shows the unveiling and Ma Ying-jeou’s speech at the event. The statue can be seen at about 13:48 in the video.The statue’s installation coincided with South Korea’s first “Memorial Day for Japanese Forces’ Comfort Women Victims”, and elsewhere in Taiwan, over 50 protesters wearing white masks sat outside the Japanese embassy in Taipei.Taiwan maintains close diplomatic and cultural ties with Japan, and Japanese National Daily The Mainichi, quoting a government source, reported that the government in Taipei was not involved in the statue’s installation.Fifty-eight Taiwanese women are recognized to have worked as “comfort women” during World War II, and two are still alive today, The Mainichi reported. Credit: Ma Ying-jeou via Storyful